Tuesday, February 14, 2017

Trump's Florida vacations are costing local law enforcement $1.5 million in overtime

This week, Donald Trump will be visiting his Mar-a-Lago resort for the third weekend in a row, which means that local law authorities will again have to foot the bill for protecting the president.

Since his election, Trump has spent about 25 and a half days at his Mar-a-Lago resort.

According to the Palm Beach Post, the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Department has raked up $1.5 million in overtime costs for Trump's visits since he was elected president in November.

Palm Beach Sheriff Ric Bradshaw told the Post that security costs are amounting to about $60,000 a day during Trump's visits to the county, which means that, in total, the agency has spent more than a million dollars protecting him.

Bradshaw says he is confident the money his department spent in aiding Secret Service with the president's protection will be reimbursed, but county administrators seem skeptical.

The sheriff's office isn't the only one losing money when the president visits.

Lantana airport businesses say that in just the last two weekends, Trump has cost them thousands of dollars, and they continue to worry that the hassle of frequent airport shutdowns will scare customers away to other airports.

The Post also reports that West Palm Beach Chief Financial Officer Mark Parks estimated city police and fire rescue crews have incurred about $26,000 so far in overtime costs during Trump's February visits.